Critically reviewing the literature
29 important questions on Critically reviewing the literature
What is the inductive research approach about?
Data are collected and a theory developed as a result of the data analysis.
What is a concept?
e.g. Customer Satisfaction, Service Quality
What is theory? (as in conceptual models)
e.g. Higher service quality leads to higher customer satisfaction
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What are refereed academic journals?
What are non-refereed academic journals?
What are trade journals?
What four types of variables are there, and explain them?
- Independent; causes changes in the dependent variable
- Dependent; changes in response to changes in other variables
- Mediating; explains the relationship between independent and dependent variables.
- Moderating; affects the strength of the relationship between two variables.
Why do you need to be careful with newspapers?
What are cofernence proceedings?
What is a theses?
What are the two types of validity? And give a brief explanation.
- Internal validity: when your research accurately demonstrates a causal relationship between two variables.
- External validity: can a study's research findings be generalised to other relevant settings or groups?
What are the two validation techniques? Give a brief explanation.
- Triangulation
- Using two or more independent sources of data and methods of collection within one study to ensure that the data are telling you what you think they are telling you.
- Participant or member validation
- Taking or sending research data back to participants to allow them to confirm its accuracy, by permitting them to comment on and correct it to validate it.
Before commencing your literature search, the book suggests that you undertake further planning by writing down your search strategy and, if possible, discussing it with your project tutor what does this include?
- the search terms and phrases you intend to use
- the online databases and search engines you intend to use
- the criteria you intend to use to select the relevant and useful studies from all the items you find
With defining the parameters of your search you need to be clear about a lot of topics but what topics do you need to be clear about according to Bell and Waters?
- subject area
- business sector
- geographical area
- publication period
- literature type
What are the two types of reliability? And give a brief explanation.
- Internal reliability: ensuring consistency during a research project, may be achieved by using more than one researcher within a research project to conduct interviews or observations and to analyse data to be able to evaluate the extent to which they agree about the data and its analysis.
- External reliability: whether your data collected techniques and analytic procedures would produce consistent findings if they were repeated by you on another occasion or if they were replicated by another researcher.
What is important at the stage generating your search terms?
What three types of samples are there, and explain them?
- Population; a complete set of cases or group members
- Always identify your target population
- Census; collection and analysis from every possible case or group member in the population
- Always identify your target population
- Sample; sub-group or part of a population
Which two types of sampling are there? And give a brief explanation.
- Probability sampling; when the chance of each case being selected from the population is known and equal
- Non-probability sampling; when the chance of each case being selected from the population is not known, and not equal.
What is a sampling frame?
- If there is a sampling frame -> always use probability sampling.
What are relevance trees?
What can relevance thees help you to decide?
- those areas you will search first and which your search will use later
- these areas that are more important - these tend to have more branches
How do you construct your relevance tree?
2) identify two or more subject areas that you think are important
3) further subdivide each major subject area into sub-areas that you think are of relevance
4) further divide the sub-areas into more precise sub-areas that you think are of relevance
5) identify those areas that you need to search immediately and those you particularly need to focus on.
6) As your reading and reviewing progress, add new areas to your relevance tree.
What is the Quota, and the Haphazard in non-probability sampling?
- Quota; represents certain characteristics of the population chosen by the researcher. Often used for structured interviews.
- Haphazard; selecting your cases without any obvious method or organization.
- e.g. Facebook polls
What are the 8 forms of plagiarism according to Oxford?
2) cutting and pasting text
3) paraphrasing someone else's work by altering a few words or chain their order or closely following the structure of their argument without acknowledgement
4) collaboration with others and not attributing the assistance received
5) inaccurately referencing
6) failing to acknowledge the assistance
7) using materials written by others
8) auto or self platiarising
What is Volunteer in non-probability sampling?
- Snowball; participants are volunteered to be part of the research rather than being chosen. used when the target population is difficult to access. Contact someone within your target population and then ask them for help to identify other cases and soon.
- The problems of bias are huge, as respondents are most likely to identify other potential respondents who are similar to themselves, resulting in a homogeneous sample.
- Self-selection; Publicise your need for cases and select cases based on who contacts you. Post an add and collect data from those who respond.
Explain the difference between cross-sectional and longitudinal studies.
What is the role of the external researcher?
What is the law of large numbers about?
When does haphazard sampling occurs? (non-probability sampling)
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